Be Passionately In Love

Half an hour earlier, the room was unlit, the curtains tightly drawn. Pressed against the mirror, Chen Luzhou looked down at her with deep, cool eyes that flickered with the stubborn fire of youth—a fire he seemed determined to extinguish completely. He wanted to push their relationship to its extremes, if only to end the torment and uncertainty that had plagued them day and night.

After their argument on the court that afternoon, Xu Zhi had turned and walked away without a word. Chen Luzhou felt utterly helpless with her. This girl simply didn’t know how to yield. If he pulled away, she pulled harder. Her pride left him exasperated and powerless. No matter how harsh his words, she always remained unruffled, indifferent. Even their fights never reached a satisfying climax. The match had ended long ago, yet he stayed on the court alone, practicing for another two hours. When he finally grabbed his jacket to leave, he admitted defeat—he was ready to cut ties with her for good. Then Zhu Yangqi called, and like a shameless fool, he thought: Fine, one last time.

Outside, the sound of wheels rolling past was barely audible in the silence, drowned out by his own tense, suffocating heartbeat—until an ambulance pulled up downstairs, its siren wailing incessantly.

In the dim room, the faint glow of the floor lamp flickered like dying embers, testing the limits of his patience.

Leaning against the mirror, Xu Zhi looked up at him and asked coolly, "What if I choose to sleep with you?"

"Then it’ll only happen once. There won’t be a third time. If you don’t want a boyfriend, we’ll act like strangers at school—"

Before he could finish, Xu Zhi silenced him with a kiss. The ambulance’s siren faded into the distance, leaving the world hushed again, every tiny sound magnified—tense, thrilling.

One hand hooked around his neck, the other tugging at the drawstring of his sweatpants. Chen Luzhou didn’t stop her. His heart ached with resignation, his body burning, his chest tight with panic, his throat dry and rough. Closing his eyes, he cupped the back of her head and pulled her closer, kissing her with a ferocity he’d never unleashed before.

After what felt like an eternity, Chen Luzhou broke away, breathless. "I don’t have a condom."

Xu Zhi, panting, glanced toward the bedside. "There’s one over there."

Still standing by the mirror, Chen Luzhou released her, his gaze icy as he nodded toward the single bed. "Wait for me there. I’ll go buy some."

"Who uses the hotel’s condoms?" he muttered, turning to leave.

"..."

By the time he returned, Xu Zhi was obediently waiting on the bed, the room still dark save for the faint, flickering glow of the floor lamp, casting her silhouette in soft, warm light.Xu Zhi's features leaned towards innocence—round face, round eyes—giving her a perpetually harmless appearance. Yet her figure was the most striking kind. At the moment, she wore a thin sweater that clung to her curves, paired with fitted gray pencil pants. Her long legs stretched straight and slender over the edge of the bed, boots and socks discarded nearby. Her toes, pale and delicate, curled lazily in the air as she leaned against the headboard, engrossed in her phone, typing away with intense focus. Her usually sharp, straightforward gaze, often tinged with indifference, now looked serious and earnest—one might mistake her for drafting a thesis. Her toes fidgeted restlessly, curling and uncurling from time to time.

When she noticed him enter, she instinctively locked her phone, tossed it aside, and pulled the blanket over herself.

Chen Luzhou locked the door and walked toward her without a word, dropping something carelessly on the bedside before grabbing her ankles and yanking her down. He braced his hands on either side of her head, leaning in to kiss her in silence.

Xu Zhi looped her arms around his neck, tugging at his shirt. Chen Luzhou knelt on the bed, letting her pull his sweatshirt over his head, revealing his lean, clean-cut muscles, vibrant and exhilarating. Her heart pounded wildly, dizzying her until she finally sat up to kiss his ear, his neck.

He tossed his shirt aside without a second glance, reaching casually for something on the bedside table, tearing it open while letting her kiss him without restraint.

In the dim room, the only sound was the rustling of the wrapper. Neither spoke. His gaze remained cool and shadowed, as if he had no words for her. He took one out, tossed the rest back, then wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into the blankets.

……

When Chen Luzhou went to shower, he picked up the clothes from the floor and threw them onto the sofa. Xu Zhi refused to wash up, sprawled on the bed playing with her phone, insisting she’d shower after he left.

The moment he disappeared into the bathroom, she quietly retrieved her phone, cocooned herself in the blanket, and resumed typing the message she hadn’t finished earlier. Her forehead was damp with sweat, her fingers trembling slightly. Chen Luzhou had been restrained, gentle—just inexperienced.

At the time, her entire scalp had tingled, her back electrified, blood rushing in reverse. Now, coming down from the high, she felt a lingering craving.

Chen Luzhou emerged from the shower in a white T-shirt and sweatpants. Xu Zhi had already sent her message, curled up under the covers.

The room was dim, curtains drawn, the small floor lamp casting long, intimate shadows. Outside, the occasional sound of wheels rolling past and doors opening and closing in the hallway punctuated the otherwise peaceful night.

Chen Luzhou stood by the bed, tidied up, while Xu Zhi hid under the blanket. They gazed at each other in silence until, finally, both broke into quiet laughter at their unspoken understanding, looking away.Chen Luzhou tossed aside the hoodie he was about to wear and sat down on the edge of the bed, his legs sprawled lazily apart. One hand rested casually between his thighs while the other reached out to pinch Xu Zhi's cheeks in playful retaliation. His tone was teasing, "Got what you wanted, happy now?"

Xu Zhi, cocooned softly in the blankets with only her face peeking out, let her gaze roam over him but didn't respond. Instead, she countered with a question, "Was basketball practice tiring today?"

Of course it was tiring—he'd played the entire forty-minute game. But exhaustion wasn't just from the game. Thirty-something minutes would've been manageable.

Chen Luzhou pinched harder, his expression cool as he looked at her. "Trying to provoke me won't work. There won't be a third time."

Xu Zhi pointed innocently at the scattered items on the bedside table, her eyes clear. "Then what about these?"

Slowly withdrawing his hand, Chen Luzhou glanced at them before reaching for his shoes and slipping them on. His tone was airy. "Keep them as souvenirs."

Xu Zhi hummed in agreement, gesturing at the items. "After all, they were used by Chen Luzhou."

Once dressed, Chen Luzhou tucked his phone into his pocket and prepared to head back to his dorm. Xu Zhi was in the shower, the sound of water pattering against the tiles filling the bathroom. He leaned against the wall outside the bathroom door, expressionless, lost in thought for a long moment. In the end, he left without waiting for her to finish.

As he stepped into the elevator, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He paid it little mind, assuming it was just a step-count notification from WeChat. Arms crossed, he leaned against the elevator wall and absentmindedly pressed the button for the ground floor. Inside, he encountered the same couple from earlier, who gave him a vaguely familiar glance.

Just outside the hotel entrance, his phone buzzed again with a WeChat notification. He pulled it out for a cursory glance, only to pause mid-step upon seeing earlier messages. It was late at night, but the streets were still lively with occasional cars whizzing past. Standing alone under the dim streetlights, Chen Luzhou stared at his phone, the wind whistling in his ears. He guessed the messages had arrived right after they'd finished, while he was in the shower.

Xu Zhi: «I promised before that if I spent money on you, I'd write you an 8,000-word essay. Since I paid for the room tonight—Zhu Yangqi said you'd cover it and told me to get reimbursed from you—and since you'll probably go back to sleep in your dorm afterward, I'll count this as an hourly rate. So I'll just write a few hundred words for now, and you can make do with that. I'll make up the full 8,000 words later, okay?»Xu Zhi: "Actually, I met your mom during summer vacation, but I never told you because you were about to go abroad then. Don't worry, she didn't say anything harsh to me or throw a check at me. Though it's a bit disappointing—your mom is kinda stingy—but from her words, I could tell she loves you very much. Every sentence she spoke was considering your best interests (if you want details, I can write an 8,000-word essay about it later). She said you've always been well-behaved, that everyone speaks highly of you, that they adopted such a good son. The pride in her tone reminded me of that commercial slogan—after all, not all milk is Telunsu, and not all adopted sons are as cool and charming as Chen Luzhou. But she mentioned that right before you left the country, you had an argument with them in front of relatives and friends at the villa, and some relatives said unpleasant things. Then your mom said our feelings were just impulsive. Don't worry, I refuted her on the spot—left her speechless. She was so angry she drank two cups of coffee and forgot to pay. But later, thinking back, we had only known each other for a month at that time. The honeymoon phase does make people impulsive. I was afraid you might be acting on impulse, so I never asked if you could stay. I also worried that if I fueled the fire, you might clash with your family in the heat of the moment. Because I was afraid that once this phase passed, you might realize Xu Zhi isn’t as great as you imagined and regret it. After all, I know how important parents are—I love my dad dearly, even though he’s quite ordinary and sometimes cowardly, let alone yours who are so outstanding. So I didn’t dare call you during summer break or tell you I missed you. I didn’t want you to gamble everything for me, nor did I want relatives to call you ungrateful."

Xu Zhi: "Chen Luzhou, maybe you don’t know me well enough yet. But the more I understand you, the harder it is for me to speak up—because you’re just too flawless, with nothing for anyone to criticize. Though I do think there’s something wrong with your brain. I talk about a puppy wagging its tail, and you tell me the school board chair is your mom."

Xu Zhi: "As my dad would say, we’ve only lived a quarter of our lives. The intensity of breastfeeding as babies hasn’t even faded yet—it’s too early to talk about love. If I just wanted to date you casually, I could’ve said prettier words. I admit that would’ve been romantic, but I want to go further with you. I’ve always believed love should make people braver, unbreakable. Remember that exhibition you went to over the summer? After we parted, I went to see it too. The sculptor had already expressed the world’s most resilient love perfectly."

Xu Zhi: "Let me borrow this to say—if there were only one rose left in the world, even at eighty, I’d roll my wheelchair to fight for it for you. After all, my boyfriend Chen Jiaojiao is a little romantic poet."

Author's Note: Just a quick word about the last part—Xu Zhi's confession was subtle because there were still a few issues she couldn't express directly. If she had spoken them outright, it wouldn't have felt like her at all. That's why she had been carefully considering her wording just now. Some parts of the message would be conveyed to Chen Luzhou from other people's perspectives—what Xu Zhi said herself was more restrained. That was just her nature. If she had been completely straightforward, it would have seemed odd.